Mr. President, Dear Colleagues, I am happy to sponsor SB1391 under committee report no. 53, another social protection measure intended to cover one of the most vulnerable segment of our population - our PWDs.

The bill therefore proposes to expand the benefits already being given our PWDs through the Magna Carta for Person with Disabilities by including automatic Philhealth coverage to them. This way, our PWD brothers and sisters can at least be assured that when they get hospitalized, Philhealth will pay for all or some of the expenses. Moreover, the bill tasks Philhealth to develop exclusive packages for PWDS taking into account their specific health and development needs. Similar to what we did for our senior citizens, under our proposal, the amount necessary to pay for the premium of PWDs shall be sourced from Sin Taxes.

Mr. President, isa ito sa mga panukalang batas na dapat noon pa natin naipasa. Alang-alang sa mga Pilipinong may kapansanan, I, along with the authors and co-sponsors of this measure, request all members of this august chamber to support the passage this bill.